


How to be the Flavor of the Week: A Guide by Eddie Kaspbrak

by Talktoziertome



Series: A Guide By... [1]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Again, But it's not a lot, College AU, M/M, Richie is in a band, slightly nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 03:59:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13918914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talktoziertome/pseuds/Talktoziertome
Summary: Eddie, 19, is always being dragged to band shows by Beverly.Richie, 20, is the lead singer of the band Flavor of the Week. He sings about his sexual conquests and is kind of an asshole.Or another fic where Richie's in a band and Eddie's in college and they're dumb.(Part 1 of the A GUIDE BY... Series.)





	How to be the Flavor of the Week: A Guide by Eddie Kaspbrak

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a three part series! So stay on the lookout for "How to be a Heartbreaker: A Guide by Richie Tozier"
> 
> All songs included in this fic will be listed at the end!  
> Thank you!

Eddie scuffed his sneaker on the sidewalk out of boredom as Bev practically vibrated next him. Earlier that day she busted through his dorm’s common room in search of him, just as excited. She told him that she was, once again, holding him by the hand and running head first into a club to see some band with him as her luggage.

“It’s a really cool band. I promise!” She shook his shoulder with a small hand. “And besides you got laid last time I dragged you out to the club.”

Pale skin and pouty pink mouth flashed in Eddie’s mind, sending a chill down his spine. A spine that was caressed by thin, warm hands. He could hear the laughter in his ear, hot breath on his neck, and the quiet ‘uh,uh,uh’s that came from chapped, skilled lips. “That was after you ditched me for some rando,” he accused. “I found that guy all on my own.”

She flinched, taking her hand back as if she’d been burned. “I said I was sorry, Eddie. I won’t ditch you again.” The line moved up.

“It’s chill, Bev. I may be making it a big deal but really it isn’t.” He slung his arm over her shoulder, hugging the shorter girl to his side. He really didn’t mind her taking him out. The bands were pretty awesome sometimes, and he met tons of people from campus. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “What’s the name of this one?” The line moved up. They were next to converse with the bouncer.

She reached in his back pocket, taking out his wallet and handing it to him. “Flavor of the Week.”

“Like the song?” He asked, raising one of his brows.  He flipped through all of the store rewards cards that he could never seem to say no to, searching for his ID. “Too stoned- Nintendo?” He sing-songed the lyrics to Flavor of the Week by American Hi-FI, a song his friends listened to as a kid.

She giggled, moving forward and handing her ID to the bouncer. “Exactly that one.”

The bouncer nodded at them. They stuck out their fists. They knew the drill. They’ve done this a thousand times- thanks to Bev. The bouncer took a thick black Sharpie from his back pocket, drawing X’s on the back of both of their hands. He nodded his head to the side, telling them to walk into the club.

Eddie spread his hands out in front of him, wiggling his fingers. “Ah, the brand of being 19. No drinking for us.”

Beverly laughed shoving him with her shoulder as they moved into the crowd. There was a large group of people gathered around the empty stage. Painted on a large tarp in messy black paint “Flavor of the Week”, hanging from the wall.

“Are they big?” Eddie yelled to Bev as she led them through the crowd, trying to get to the middle. The club’s usual loud techno music blasted from the speakers

“Sort of!” She called back. They eventually came to a stop next to a couple that was connected at the tongues. “They have a theme.”

Eddie frowned at the couple. “A theme?”

“The lead singer is kind of a player,” She explained. “All he sings about is his conquests and fucking people over.” Beverly had a sparkle in her eye. “He’s great.”

Eddie scrunched up his nose, gazing at the stage expectantly. “Sounds like a prick.” Eddie didn’t like players. Or people that didn’t call back. People with dark hair and long limbs, and stupid pouty lips that whispered the sweetest, dirtiest things- that didn’t call back.

“I think it’s an act.” She says, tucking her hair behind her ears and checking her watch. “They’re almost on!” She bounced on her toes. “They mostly do covers.”

“Then why are you so excited?” Eddie’s face was growing hot, his skin crawling as people shoved by him.

“Just wait.” Her smile was bright.

A slow piano was tapping out of the speaker suddenly, the room simmered down to a whispered hum- expectant. A voice rang out when the piano player paused, making it seem isolated. “ _Call me a thief”-_ It hit Eddie straight in the heart. His muscles tightened.

The stage brightened, revealing the band and their lead singer. The lead singer, his arm wrapped around the cord of the microphone, his toe tapping to the building beat, was a fucking prick.

“Richie.” Eddie ground out through clenched teeth. He grabbed onto Beverly’s jacket, but she was jumping and singing along to the music. As Eddie watched her, he realized, as the blue-hued lights lit up her smiling, laughing, freckled face, he couldn’t ruin her night with his sob story of being a one-night stand.

Richie stopped singing in the middle of the song, as the music continued to play behind him. He spread out his arms, accepting the crowd's screams of approval and awe. “Thank you guys so fucking much for coming out tonight!” The crowd screamed _your welcome_ ’s and _I love you_ ’s. Eddie rolled his eyes, hunching his shoulders to make himself smaller.

“I’m Richie Tozier- these are my boys-” He gestured to the men behind him. “-And we are Flavor of the Week!”

He began to sing again, body moving with the rhythm. A rhythm that Eddie remembered sliding against his own desperate, needy rhythm- skin on skin. _“Call me a thief,”_ Richie’s white t-shirt, which was too loose on his body and too short, revealing the skin of his hips and the plaid of his boxers, looked incredibly dirty. _“There’s been a robbery.”_   Eddie squinted at the smudges across Richie’s chest. “ _I left with his heart-”_ Eddie looked up at his face then, the freckles on his cheeks illuminated by the stage lights, his sharp cheekbones casting shadows, making him look even prettier. Eddie frowned, looking back down at his shirt. **JENNY** **’14, RACHEL’15, DANNY’15, CRISTINE’14, LUKE’14, DANI’15.** Eddie’s eye jumped around his chest, reading all of the fading names and years with disgust. The front was obviously Richie's first conquests. The writing was so small, and the names covered his shirt like a pattern. “ _Tore it apart, made no apologies.”_

The crowd shrieked then, making Eddie jump and covering up the words of Richie’s line. Richie laughed, then continued, humping the air and rolling his body. “ _He was on top of me.”_ Eddie’s eye widened, his lower spine tingled at the memory of that exact event.

_His hands were tangled in Richie’s wild curls, a moan built in his chest under Richie’s lips. Each of Richie’s thrusts seemed to a beat like there was music in his head that Eddie couldn’t hear. Eddie imagined a symphony in that crazy mind, a mind that seemed to run two minutes too fast. He reached a hand down to Richie’s cheek, ran his finger along his cheekbone. Richie faulted for a moment, head whipping up- his gaze met Eddie’s. His eyes were black with lust, causing Eddie to take his lip between his teeth._

_“Kiss me?” Eddie’s voice was rough and lower than usual._

_Richie responded by flipping them over, his curls hitting the pillow; Eddie letting out a squeal and a giggle._

_The new position made Richie go deeper inside of him, he gasped, holding himself up with his hands resting on Richie’s chest. His head fell forward, his eyes shut tight. “Fuck Eds,” Richie groaned out when he began to slide up and down at a slow pace. Eddie opened his eyes. Richie’s pale skin was tinted pink and hot to the touch. The boy was fire. And Eddie wanted to be as fiery as Richie was just walking through a bar with his head held high and a loud laugh on his lips. He bobbed up and down faster, hitting his hips down harder. Their groans and whispers became one voice in the dark as they moved together, sliding and slick and hot._

The song was over. Richie was drinking from a water bottle, his throat constricting visibly. Eddie watched his Adam's apple bob, with a warmth growing in his belly.

“He switches between him/her in his songs to show that he’s bisexual. Isn’t that fucking rad?” Beverly turned to him.

“Yeah,” Eddie said. “He’s a riot.”

“Are you okay? Your cheeks are pink.” Her brow was furrowed, and she lifted a hand to his cheek. “Eddie, you’re burning up.”

He pushed her hand away. “I’m fine, _mom_. Watch your band.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

She turned around anyway as Richie began to speak again. “Alright, as usual, we have our hat.” Richie lifts an old, dingy baseball hat from a stool on stage. He shakes it, holding onto the bill of the hat with his long fingers, the papers inside swishing around. “We pick one song from the hat and then me and these fucks see if we can pull it off.” He held the microphone against his lips as he spoke, every breath coming out of the speakers surrounding the room- surrounding Eddie.

_He pinned him against the brick building, arms on either side of his body- like a cage. His breath hitting his ear, warm and inviting. “Did it hurt?”_

_Eddie giggled, pushing at his shoulder. “Did what hurt?” He slid one of his legs between Richie’s, their jeans bunching together._

_Richie came into view in front of him, nudging his nose with his own. “When you fell from heaven? Because damn, what an angel.” He ran his hand down the side of Eddie’s body._

_Eddie rolled his eyes, turning his head to the side- away from Richie’s strong gaze. “Depends. Did your hands hurt?”_

_Richie raised his eyebrows, “Hurt from what?”_

_Eddie let out a laugh, looking up at Richie with big eyes once again. “When you crawled your way up from hell.”_

_Richie leaned back, his arms dropping away from the wall. The corners of his eyes crinkled, and it lit up something in Eddie’s heart. “Eddie Spaghetti gets off a good one.”_

_Eddie pushed away from the wall, dragging his sneaker against the rough pavement as he walked toward his apartment once again._

Richie leans down on his knees in front of the audience. “Alright just pick one, Beautiful.” The girl in the front blushed, sticking her hand into the hat. Richie stands, her hand reaching up to his from the audience. He takes it in his, kissing her knuckles and throwing her a wink.

He flips open the paper, a snort shaking his body. He’s full on laughing and throwing the piece of paper to the guitarist, who also let out a laugh. “Okay, okay. Like every show- Pony by Far everyone!”

Bev screams next to Eddie, using his shoulder to jump up and down. “I love this one, Eddie!”

A guitar begins- one that sounds like it should be in a male strip club or a Magic Mike movie.

Richie gets up on one of the amps, dramatically touching up and down his body. He throws his head back as he sings, his voice breathy and dramatic.

_“I'm just a bachelor, looking for a partner -Someone who knows how to ride without even falling off. Gotta be compatible takes me to my limits. Girl, when I break you off I promise that you won't want to get off. **If you're horny let's do it, ride it, my pony**. My saddle's waiting, come and jump on it.”_

Eddie gulps _. Jesus Christ._ The crowd around him is vibrating. Richie continues to sing, jumping down from the amp and onto his knees rolling his body. The girls in the front row reach for him as he gets closer, running their hands down his chest and stomach. Richie starts to laugh, the hands tickling his side. The music starts to fade out- the band catching that Richie is over the song.

Richie gets to his feet, putting a white towel around his neck and picking up the hat again. He shakes it before turning his back to the audience and offering it up to the drummer. The drummer is a larger man with a kind face that Eddie thinks he’s seen in the library with the guy named Mike from his psychology class.

“Come on Haystack, pick a good one,” Richie says.

That’s when Eddie notices it.

Just below Richie’s left shoulder blade in deeper- _newer-_ scrawl.

 **EDDIE’18**.

His name was just one in the sea of many other black smudges on Richie’s fucking t-shirt. Eddie grabs for Beverly’s hand, his eyes filling with angry tears. She turns to him, her face falling when she sees his eyes glowing red on the rims.

“Eddie?” She asks.

“I-I-” He gets out.

“What is it?” She steps closer to him, following his eye line and meeting the back of Richie’s shirt. “Oh fuck.” She says reading his name. “You and he didn’t...?”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” He spits out.

“Shit, Eddie. Why did you say anything earlier?”

Eddie can’t think straight. Cigarettes and mint clouding his nostrils, the feeling of large hands on his hips coming over him. All he can think of is Richie. Richie played him. He loved every second of it. Maybe that makes him a fool.

“Shit, Rich. Someone has it out for you.” Ben says into the microphone. Eddie had met him once- he helped him find a book.

“Sorry by Halsey.” Richie reads the slip and whistles. “I get it. Fuck you but I get it.” The audience laughs. “Stan?” He nods to the guy behind the piano who starts playing at his request.

Richie pulls a stool up to the center of the stage, pulling the microphone stand in front of him as he clears his throat and sits.

“Eddie...” Beverly whispers in his ear, clutching his hand tighter. Eddie gasps as Richie begins to sing softly.

“ _Don’t realize how mean I can be. ‘Cause sometimes I treat the people that I love like jewelry. ‘Cause I can change my mind each day._ _I didn’t mean to try you on_.” Richie holds a phone in front of his face, reading the lyrics as he goes. “ _So, I’m sorry to my unknown lover. Sorry that I can’t believe that anybody ever really starts to fall in love with me. Sorry to my unknown lover. Sorry I could be so blind.”_ Eddie looks up at him with large eyes.

“I have to go.” Eddie pushes through the crowd, Bev calling out to him.

Eddie turns back for one last look at the man with names on his clothing like badges of honor. His beautiful voice reaches Eddie. When Eddie finally gives a look to his face, Richie’s eyes are on his. Eddie gasps. “ _I run away when things are good, and never really understood the way you laid your eyes on me in ways that no one ever could. And so, it seems I broke your heart- My ignorance has struck again.”_

Richie’s eyes are sad and longing. Eddie breaks away from their eye contact, breathing hard. He needs to get out of here. He pushes the club doors open, the cool air hitting his hot face. He runs.

**Author's Note:**

> Flavor of the Week by American Hi-Fi  
> Theif by Ansel Elgort  
> Pony by Far  
> Sorry by Halsey 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! and Please keep an eye out for the second part of this story- "How to be a heartbreaker: A Guide by Richie Tozier"  
> Please comment and let me know what you think! Thanks! 
> 
> Follow me on tumblr at Talktoziertome


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